Six Years to Life: There and Back Again
by Laume
Summary: The last part of the Six Years Trilogy. Severus, after spending a year as a six year old, has been restored to his original age at the defeat of Voldemort. His troubles are far from over, though.
1. Chapter 1

Dark. Cold. Damp. Stone.

He shivered. The floor was hard. Slowly he opened his eyes, taking in the three walls, too close to each other for comfort, and the iron bars that created the barrier to the corridor. No doubt enchanted. A tiny window high up in the wall.

Ah. A luxury cell.

He knew where he was, now.

Azkaban.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mr. Potter, how did you defeat You Know Who?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I used a spell," he said simply.

"Which one?" the reporter pressed on.

"An ancient spell," Harry was reluctant to explain any further, "don't bother with it. It can only be used under special circumstances."

"Such as this?" Rita Skeeter asked.

"Yes, such as this."

"So, you consider yourself special enough to…"

Harry was tempted to throw a hex, when Hermione suddenly appeared next to him, holding a glass jar.

"Harry is very special, though he refuses to acknowledge that fact," she smiled sweetly at the quickly paling reporter, "but I think he was referring to the circumstances, not his person."

"O-of course," Skeeter said, "So, Harry…now that You Know Who is defeated…will you be concentrating on settling down? Dating, marrying?"

"Lady, I have defeated Voldemort only yesterday," Harry said, exhasperated as the room flinched in unison, "oh for Merlin's sake people! He is dead! Anyway, I defeated him only yesterday and I woke up about an hour and a half ago. How much time do you think I've had to ask anyone out on a date?"

A few people chuckled.

"What about Snape, Mr. Potter?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "What about him?"

The reporter squirmed a bit, but still asked his question. "We've heard all sorts of rumors…he hasn't been seen in a year…he is a Death Eater after all."

Growling, Harry snarled "No! My brother is not a Death Eater!"

Gasps filled the room. "B-brother?" the reporter stammered.

Resting his head in his hands, Harry sat down on the platform.

"Ok…from the beginning. Severus has been a spy for the Order of the Phoenix for many, many years, from the first war on."

"Really? We heard that was just something he claimed to save his skin," Skeeter scowled.

Hermione cleared her throat and fingered the jar pointily.

"It was not," Harry said coldly, "Albus Dumbledore vouched for him. He has saved my life many times over the years. Now, last year, at the start of summer, he was found out as a spy by Voldemort, who punished him with a most unusual spell. He turned him into a six year old again."

The room exploded with whispers, surprised cries and the various other reactions people produce when confronted with something they didn't expect.

"If you would all shut up, I can finish the story," Harry began to lose his patience.

"He stayed with me over the summer, and we both returned to Hogwarts at the end of August. He lived with his guardian, the Headmaster, and took some classes."

"Is it true that he and his Little League defeated the Gryffindor Quidditch Team?" a youngish witch asked.

Harry groaned. "Yes, that is true. My team wouldn't talk to me for weeks, considering I am the Little League's coach."

People grinned around the room, and Harry shot an apologetic look at the teammembers he saw.

"But why do you call him brother?" Skeeter insisted, her nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Because he is," Harry responded calmly, "we were both adopted by Albus Dumbledore. That makes us legally brothers. To me, however, we became brothers last summer. Now, if you will excuse me, Severus's transformation back to an adult was painful and draining, he hasn't woken up yet, and I'm worried."

"What kind of 'relationship' do you plan to have now?" the dim-witted Skeeter shouted after him, her tone making it very clear what ideas SHE had about their relationship.

Harry turned, his body glowing with power. Skeeter eeped, transformed into a beetle, and tried to make her escape.

"Accio Beetle Animagus," Hermione grinned wickedly as she caught the struggling insect and put it in the jar.

"I'll take care of her, Harry," she smirked, "you just go on and see to Severus."

The other reporters wisely kept quiet, and began to write down their articles for publication.

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Nervous, Harry?" Dumbledore put an arm around his charge's shoulders.

The young man nodded. "Facing Voldemort wasn't half as scary," he admitted in a tiny voice, "or putting up with those idiot reporters."

The headmaster sighed. "I can't even promise you it'll be alright," he said morosely, "I have no idea how he will react, or how much he will remember. I will be there for you, for both of you, you know that, Harry."

The young Chosen smiled weakly. "I know. Let's hurry, I don't want him to wake up alone."

Entering the infirmary, it took a few seconds to take in the disaster area.

Potions vials were everywhere. Magical residue was on nearly everything. And Molly Weasley was on the floor, Silenced and in a Full Body Bind.

Dumbledore quickly released her, swatting at Harry's hand when Harry reached for his wand to do exactly that.

"No magic!" he scolded, his face pale and tense with worry.

"Where is Severus?" Harry panicked as he looked at the empty bed.

Molly sat up and burst into tears. "Oh Albus, Harry, I'm so sorry, I tried to stop them, but there were five, and I couldn't…"

Harry felt his knees go weak, and he sat down on the floor, luckily out of the way of the glass.

"What happened, Molly?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"F-Fudge…and A-Aurors," Molly sobbed, "Said they were rounding up Death Eaters. They…they took him! I tried…"

They couldn't get out another word, but it was enough. Harry's eyes darkened and he shone with power, despite his magical exhaustion.

"Fudge," he growled.

Dumbledore took his shoulders. "Easy, Harry. Control yourself. We are going to the Ministry, we'll get him back!"

As the boy stormed out of the room, the ancient wizard muttered to himself: "And I'll string Fudge up by his toes if one hair on my boy's head has been harmed…"

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

The Ministry was rather empty. Most of the personel was working on the after-battle clean-up. Only a handful remained.

Cornelius Fudge had not joined the battle. First because he was no great wizard, secondly because he had claimed there was no evidence Voldemort would strike there.

Now he was staring at the two in front of his desk with a triumphant smirk.

"You cannot save him this time, Dumbledore," the gleam in his eyes was disgusting to see, "he is a Death Eater."

"Where is he?" Harry demanded.

"Why, in Azkaban of course, where he belongs," the Minister said, immensely pleased with himself.

"Release him!" Harry shouted.

"My boy," the Minister said condescendingly, "I can't do that. Death Eaters deserve to be punished. The Dementors have gone, so we are still discussing whether or not to execute them, but at the very least he will spend the rest of his life there. Just be grateful there is one less person out there who wishes to kill you. I am insuring your safety."

For a moment, Harry fully expected Fudge to hold out his hand so Harry could kiss it. But perhaps even the Minister realised that he would most likely lose his hand had he done so.

"I gave evidence at his trial years ago that he is a spy for me," Dumbledore's eyes were ablaze with power, "that has not changed. Release him."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," a girlish voice simpered. Harry's eyes narrowed in hatred. Dolores Umbridge had entered the office.

"You have adopted him, Headmaster. That means he is your son now, and your evidence is no longer considered valid. Testimony given by family members in cases like these are not considered valid."

Harry choked on his indignition. "You…you KNOW what he did! You KNOW all his pains and sacrifices in the war against Voldemort!"

Both flinched, but remained stubborn. "He cannot be released. I will let you know if he will be executed or not; if so, you are allowed one last visit as family members. Now, I have work to do; you may not realize, but there is a huge pile of administrative matters that follow a battle such as you started."

Seeing they wouldn't get anywhere, Dumbledore grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him from the office.

"Why didn't we just blast them through the wall!" Harry hissed in outrage.

"Because if we did, you would no longer be the hero of the wizarding world, my boy. You would be the boy with the overblown ego who killed the Minister in a quest for power. We must find a way to show Fudge's incompetence and have him removed."

"But Severus! We can't leave him there, even if they don't exe…" Harry bit back a sob, "he will already feel like we abandoned him!"

Dumbledore patted his shoulder.

"I know, child. Tell me this, Harry." He took the boy's shoulders and looked at him gravely.

"Are you prepared, just as you have gained your freedom, to lose it again? To be chased again? Live in hiding once more?"

Harry glared at him defiantly. "For Severus, I would!"

The headmaster smiled. "Get your most trusted friends together, then. We must plan, and we must hurry. Cornelius will not delay deciding on Severus's fate now that he knows how much we want him back."

**A/N: Hermione's jar was an idea from Excessivelyperky. Thanks for another great thought! A cookie to you!**


	3. Chapter 3

Dumbledore's office was filled with comfy chairs, holding a very morose group of young people. Harry looked pale, determined and grim. Neville's expression matched it. Fred and George looked lived. Hermione was sobbing softly into Ron's shoulder.

"How could they do that!" she sobbed, "he didn't do anything wrong! All those years he spied, and last year he was just a little boy."

Dumbledore nodded sadly. "I'm afraid Fudge will not give in, and he is the Minister," he sighed.

"It is, of course, ridiculous that Harry and I can't testify on Severus's behalf. True, family members aren't considered unbiased, but hardly any witness is! He just wants Severus out of the way, and he wants Harry and me discredited for going against his wishes. He will have Severus executed before we can get him out, even if we have Fudge removed from his office. It would be his final order."

Harry nodded. "Then we will have to allow ourselves to be discredited, while you work on removing Fudge, father," he said.

"I'm getting Severus out of there," he turned to the other teens, "and I'm going into hiding with him again. I could do with your help, but you must remember you will be discredited along with me if you help me with this."

All five raised their eyebrows at him.

"Don't be stupid," Fred said, "of course we will help."

"We don't care about Fudge and that toad," George nodded.

The other three nodded as well.

"You will need to prepare this well," Dumbledore warned, "and you can't go back to my summer house. If I am to go against Fudge, I cannot be associated with this. I can't be seen with you, I have to make sure my every move is accounted for. I will not be able to help you much, except through Fawkes. You would be on your own."

"We are Order members…" Fred started,

"We can do this," George finished.

"I know you can break him out and take him to safety. But he is no longer that six year old you knew," Dumbledore gently reminded them, "There is no way of knowing what condition he is in. He might remember last year, or he might not. Add to that the experience of waking up in Azkaban, alone and confused…" he bit his lip, wanting to be strong for the teens, and not letting them see his own fear for his son.

"I know," Harry said softly, "hopefully it will only be a short while before we can come out of hiding."

The others nodded. "We'll use the Room of Requirement to prepare," the twins said, "tomorrow night, we break him out."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Severus Snape slowly opened his eyes.

What had happened?

Looking around, dizzy and weak, he began to recognize his environment.

Azkaban!

He groaned, and closed his eyes.

He had been with Voldemort…and then back with his parents…No. Not his parents.

Voldemort had found out he was a spy.

And then he had sat on Harry's lap, being read to.

Wait, that couldn't be right. He shook his head in confusion. When had Potter become Harry? Yet he couldn't bear to think of him as 'Potter' anymore.

When he was five he was living with Mother and Father. When he was eight he was also living with them.

But when he was six and seven he was living with Harry and Daddy.

Something was off, there. Harry hadn't been born yet when he was six. And the memories were much too strong to be childhood memories. Perhaps they had given him some kind of befuddlement draught?

But Harry's voice was so clear, reading to him. He could see Ron and Fred and George, playing Quidditch with him.

Voldemort appeared. Voldemort? What if he was summoned?

He pulled up his sleeve with great effort, and stared at the bare skin. No Dark Mark.

"I don't understand," he whispered.

"Harry? Daddy? Where are you? Father?"

Trying to make sense of the memories floating around, seemingly unconnected, in his mind, feelings overwhelmed him.

They had left him. He couldn't clearly identify even who 'they' were, but he knew what had happened. They had thrown him away. They didn't like him anymore.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Do you have it?"

"Yes, I do. I still don't see how a piece of rubber can help us, though."

"You'll see," Harry said quietly, "roll it out, on the ground. Make sure there's nothing sharp that can pierce it."

The twins obeyed.

"Inflatus," Harry muttered. Hermione didn't show any surprise, but the others had to stiffle their gasps as the rubber inflated to form a boat.

"Nev, are you ready?"

"Ready," the Gryffindor said as he levitated the boat towards the water.

Hermione and Ron muttered invisibility spells over everyone, even though they were all dressed in black already so they wouldn't be noticed.

"Fred, George?"

"Give us ten minutes…"

"and all guards will be at the main gate…"

"You will have approximately…

"Fifteen minutes to get in and out, once you see the fireworks."

"Ron? 'Mione?"

The two nodded, even though no one could see.

"We're keeping watch. If there is any reason you can't bring the boat back here, we'll let alert you. You have the coin?"

Harry pulled out a chain with his DA coin on it from his collar.

"Got it. When it burns, it means there's trouble and we should hide until it burns again."

Harry climbed into the rubber boat with Neville. They had charmed it so it was black, too.

"We better go if we want to be there when the Twins start their distraction," Neville said, and tapped the boat with his wand. It sped forwards towards the island prison.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Fred and George slowly approached the gate, keeping quiet and low even though they were invisible.

"Remember to stay clear of the wards," Fred whispered.

"Of course, brother mine. It is nearly time. Shall we release the fireworks?"

"Be my guest, bro."

The fireworks exploded high in the air, and formed into sentences.

_NEED A TOAD? CALL UMBRIDGE_

_FUDGE: ALWAYS STICKY_

And

_EUROPARLIAMENT: VOTE FUDGE._

Fred looked at George, an eyebrow raised.

"What?" George said innocently, "everyone knows countries ship their worst politicians off to Brussels!"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Golems ready?"

"Ready!"

They waited until a large group of guards had ran to the gate to se what was happening. Then they threw two small objects towards the group.

The objects exploded with a POP, like the sound of Apparating, and revealed two figures in black robes.

The guards yelled alarm, and went after the figures, who simply ran around, not doing anything, until they were finally Stunned and caught.

"They…they are dolls! Animated dolls!" one of the guards shouted.

Fred and George high-fived. "Test succesful. Portable Golems will be the newest edition to WWW's shop."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Point me, Severus Snape," Harry whispered. His wand pointed to a small window, high up in a prison tower.

"There he is," Harry nodded to Neville, "bring the boat under the window.

Neville skillfully managed the boat, and charmed it to stay in position.

"There are the fireworks…Harry, what on earth is Europarliament?" Neville asked bewildered.

"Have Hermione explain it later," Harry answered, "levitate me, please!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Neville concentrated as he levitated Harry higher and higher, until Harry reached the small window.

"He's in here," Harry called as loud as he dared, "bit lower, Nev!"

Dropping him a foot or three, Neville held Harry steady as the Vanquisher of Voldemort took out four peculiar stones from his pocket.

He stuck each stone on the wall, in the shape of a door.

"Evanesco," he said. The wall between the four stones vanished, leaving a hole big enough for Harry to step through.

Inside, he easily spotted the tight ball of hospital gown that huddled in a corner.

Harry carefully touched the trembling figure.

"Severus?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** _blahblah: _Severus's memories.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Severus?"

There was no response.

Harry gently ran his hand over the shaking back. "Sevvy, come on, look at me. I've come to take you home."

"G'way," the muffled voice of the Potions Master muttered, "Harry won't come. Harry hates me. Daddy hates me."

Aghast, Harry's eyes opened wide.

"Severus, no, we don't hate you, we don't! We didn't send you here, Fudge did! I've come as soon as I could, honestly!"

But there was no more reaction.

Sighing, knowing there was little time, Harry turned the Potions Master over.

"Come," he said, "we're leaving."

To his surprise, the man shakily obeyed, and stood up. His head bowed, shoulders slumped, he reminded Harry of how Sevvy had acted the first weeks of the summer.

"Walk to the gap in the wall, I will levitate you down. Neville is waiting for us in the boat."

He could almost feel the spike of fear when he took out his wand, but Severus simply stood still and waited.

Almost wishing he would hear the man sneering again, Harry levitated him and carefully let him down to the boat where Neville caught him.

"I have him," Harry heard, "I'll levitate you now."

But as soon as Neville pointed his wand at Harry, Severus suddenly sprang to life and threw himself into Neville, nearly knocking him over the side of the boat.

"Severus! Stop that!" Harry yelled.

The man immediately froze, and curled into a corner of the rubber boat, whimpering.

Neville struggled up.

"My wand went overboard," he growled at Harry, "can you manage to levitate yourself?"

Harry considered. "I'm feeling strong enough," he answered, "but you will have to use my wand to get us back to shore. I don't think I have that much magical energy left."

With that, he pointed his wand at himself and floated gently down to the boat, where he landed without too many problems, only stopping to retrieve the stones. The wall once again became solid.

He handed his wand to Neville, and then crawled over to the whimpering wizard.

"Shhh, Severus, it's ok. We're nearly safe. Stay with us, little brother, come on."

Harry reached for his pack that was in the boat, and pulled out a cloak. He wrapped the cold body in it and held him close for warmth.

Frightened, surprised black eyes searched his face, looking for answers to the many, many questions that floated around in the confused brain.

"You're much too cold," Harry said, smiling, "but we're not in the clear yet. Soon we'll have you home, and in a real bed with warm blankets. Then I'll make you some hot chocolate – you love hot chocolate, don't you? – and you can sleep for as long as you want. When you wake up again, I'll try and help you make sense of all that's happened to you."

It was Harry's voice, Harry's face, but that couldn't be, could it? Harry hated him, Harry hated potions, there was no way he would be here now.

But the soothing tones sounded very familiar, and the arm around him felt like it has once belonged there…NO!

No, this was Potter, the son of his arch enemy, the arrogant, spoiled brat of Gryffindor. The one his father kept working for, the one his father kept demanding sacrifices for.

Arrogant, strutting…brother, protector…he curled into his ball again, unable to cope.

Harry sighed. Albus had been correct, Severus was in bad shape. He had called him Harry, so something of the six year old must have lingered.

"But he thinks I hate him!"

Suddenly, he felt something warm burn against his chest.

"Neville! Hide!" he hissed.

Neville immediately steered the boat out of sight.

"Can you see anything?"

"Two guards, patrolling," Harry answered, "Ron and Mi are hiding. Dunno where Fred and George are. Keep low."

After an agonizing five minutes, Harry felt the coin burn again.

"Everything ok, we can go back now, but keep low just in case," he whispered.

Minutes later, they landed on the shores, and, with some difficulty, managed to get Severus out of the boat.

Fred and George appeared behind the other two, panting slightly. Hermione stared in shock.

"Oh, Harry…" she said, close to tears.

"I know, 'Mione," Harry said, keeping his arm around the thin figure, "Come, Severus, we're going home."

They all touched, with some difficulty, the small Portkey, and felt the familiar tug behind their navel.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Severus opened his eyes, a bit nauseous after the Portkey travel. They stood in front of a low building.

He knew this place. He had been here before. He had been happy here.

Happy? He had been happy?

Searching the memories, he concluded that yes, he had been very happy at one point in his childhood – the time he spent with Harry and Daddy.

"Home," he said softly, touching the door.

"Yes, home," Harry smiled, "the Bungalow. Do you remember we lived here for a while?"

He nodded, but then retreated into himself again as other memories mixed. Very unpleasant ones. Memories he knew very well.

The teens shared a worried look, but decided not to push him too much.

"Let's go in," Harry said, "You need a warm bed, Sev."

Sev? SEV? SEV?

"Mr. Potter," he croaked, having to get used to his voice again, "Did you just call me…"

"_Sevvy!" he heard voices call him. He looked up and smiled. _

The flash of Potions Master was gone before it really surfaced. Harry simply took his arm and directed him to his old room.

Hermione set to reading her father's psychology books, and Neville busied himself with making hot chocolate for all of them while the Twins created bunk beds for them to sleep on tonight. Harry would sleep in Severus's room, and Hermione got the other bedroom. That left two bedrooms that didn't have beds for the other four.

Harry helped his little…big…brother into the bed, warmed the sheets with a simple charm, and tucked him in.

Dark eyes followed his every move.

"What…happened?" the silky voice finally asked without croaking too much.

Harry sat on the bed, facing him.

"You…" he hesitated.

"What is the last thing you remember?" he asked carefully.

"I don't KNOW! Being found out as a spy by Voldemort, I think. But then I have memories of…" he pressed his lips together suddenly.

"of being six years old?" Harry asked softly.

The surprised look told him that was indeed what he had been about to say.

"You WERE found out as a spy," Harry said, "Voldemort cursed you. He turned you into a six year old."

"_Severus Snape," the Dark Lord said, with a grim smile, "Approach me. On your knees."_

_Flinching inwardly, he obeyed._

"_You," the Dark Lord said, "Are a spy for Albus Dumbledore. No," he held up his hand, "No point in denying it. What I want to know is why? Why you left my ranks, and betrayed your fellows? Why you abandoned all the power I gave you?"_

_He scowled. The game was up, and he knew it. He expected to be dead soon. No point in holding back._

"_Because you are a murdering hypocritical half-blood bastard. What power have you given us, except to grovel at your feet?" he stood up and raised his chin defiantly._

"_Look around you. Malfoy, Nott, pureblood names that once stood for proud, independent families, and look at what became of them! Murdering scum, kissing the hem of your robes just to prevent being tortured. I saw my mistake early on. I haven't been yours for nearly twenty years now."_

_The Death Eaters gasped while the Dark Lord's eyes shone with anger and malice._

"_And look what it brought you. I will make you an example. No, I will not kill you…yet. I will give you the opportunity to see how wrong you were in the side you chose."_

_He stood up proud when the silvery light hurled towards him from the Dark Lords wand. Pain wracked his body and he felt himself shrink. It lasted only seconds before he lost consciousness._

"I remember," he whispered, "it hurt so much."

"I know," Harry said, "it hurt a lot when you grew up again, too."

_He looked at the two adults anxiously. "Are you really not going to make me if I don't want to?"_

_The headmaster picked him up and sat on the couch, holding him in his lap. Harry sat down next to them._

"_You get to decide, Sevvy," Harry said._

"_You get to decide, Sevvy," Harry said._

"_You get to decide, Sevvy," Harry said…._

"You promised you wouldn't change me back!" he accused.

Harry sighed. "We didn't change you back. Voldemort is dead, Severus. For good. But when I killed him, the curse he put on you ended. We didn't expect that to happen. I'm sorry."

Harry had never seen so many emotions passing over someone's face in just a few seconds. Hate, love, longing, repulsion, embarassment, grief.

Finally Severus turned around.

"I want to sleep."

"Neville is bringing up some hot chocolate. I want you to drink that; you've been awfully cold in that cell."

No response.

With a deep sigh, Harry left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Albus Dumbledore had gone to bed early the night the teens had gone to Azkaban, and taken a Dreamless Sleep potion to make sure he would indeed sleep, instead of tossing and turning as he was bound to do without.

Come tomorrow, he had to be rested and well, to all appearances unconnected with the actions of his adopted son and his friends.

Before the effects of the potion overtook him, he frantically wished that they would succeed.

He was awoken at an ungodly hour the next morning by a very, very angry Minister.

"WHERE IS HE, DUMBLEDORE!" Fudge shrieked, storming into the office, then the bedroom, and Dumbledore's private library.

"WHERE HAVE YOU HIDDEN HIM?"

"Cornelius…" the headmaster started.

"No! You are undermining my authority! You…you…"

"Cornelius…"

"I should have known you would pull a stunt like this! Picked it up from that horrid Potter boy, didn't you? WHERE IS HE!"

"Cornelius!" Dumbledore said forcefully, "Will you please explain why you are here, at 5.30 in the AM, shouting like crazy?"

The three Aurors that had accompanied the Minister grinned a bit. They, too, did not appreciate being dragged from their beds practically in the middle of the night, by an insane Minister.

"SNAPE! He is gone! His cell is empty!"

Dumbledore smiled broadly, infuriating the Minister even more.

"You…you…you…" he stuttered, in serious danger of bursting a bloodvessel.

"Cornelius, calm down! You can't honestly expect me to be sorry that Severus has apparently escaped…if he has."

"He has, we searched everywhere," one of the Aurors said.

"Yep. There was a disturbance during the night," the second one very nearly snickered.

"Fireworks that proclaimed the most interesting views on…on the European Parliament…" the third didn't even try to hide his mirth.

Fudge glared.

"You had something to do with this. You or Potter!" he growled.

"Cornelius, while it is true that I plan to do everything within my power to get Severus out – you will find a letter in your office with a demand for a trial – I had nothing to do with his escaping from Azkaban. Harry is supposedly in his dorm, probably fast asleep."

"We shall see," the Minister said angrily.

He walked to the floo, and threw in a handful of floo powder.

"Harry Potter!"

No response.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

A sleepy head appeared. "Min'ster?"

"Mr Thomas. Please get Mr Potter for me," the Minister said curtly.

"Not here," the boy responded.

"What do you mean, not here?" Fudge spluttered.

"He's not here. Neither are Ron and Neville."

Dumbledore was very unhappy with how pleased the boy seemed to be that Harry was apparently in trouble.

"SEE?" Fudge turned to him, "See? Potter and his friends probably got the traitor out of Azkaban. Tell. Me. Where. They. Are."

Dumbledore sighed. "Cornelius, you don't know for sure if Harry had anything to do with this. And if he had, I had no idea, and they could be hiding anywhere."

"Minister?" Dean's voice came from the fire, "the girls say Granger has gone missing as well."

Fudge's eyes darkened.

"Do you deny that those impertinent brats broke him out now?"

"I said nothing of the sort. It is certainly something they might do. Harry was not at all pleased that you threw Severus in Azkaban. And he is prone to rash actions. All I know is I had nothing to do with it, nor did I aid them in any way. That does not stop me from being glad Severus is out of that hellhole, however."

The headmaster glowed with power, and Fudge backed down a little.

"He is my son. I will fight you for as long as it takes. You can search my homes all you want, I have done nothing illegal, but I will go to the fullest extend of the law to get him freed of whatever charges you will lay at his door. Now please leave. Mr Thomas…I hope in time you, too, will learn to see that it is better to do what is right instead of what is easy."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

After Neville brought him some hot chocolate, Severus slept for over 18 hours.

"What did you put in it?" Harry asked when it was nearing noon, and Severus showed no signs of waking up.

"A few herbs," Neville replied, "actually, a bit of spiced wine. It induces sleep while stimulating the body to heal. I also added a teaspoon of nutrient potion. I mean, he wasn't there that long, but he hadn't even recovered from changing back into an adult."

The boy frowned. "Is it really only a couple of days ago that we played with a six year old?"

Harry nodded. Then he remembered something.

"Neville…?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever did happen to Bellatrix?"

Neville held his eyes tightly shut. "Sectumsempra."

"Sectumsempra?" Harry enquired, curious.

"On her throat. You can imagine the results." Neville pounded into the dough he was kneading.

Harry paled. "You…you beheaded her?"

Neville nodded, slightly green.

"It seemed so easy at the time," he muttered, "but when I think of it now…"

"I know," Harry said softly, "it isn't fair, is it? Growing up without parents, having to fight and kill when we should be in school, pulling pranks and worrying about nothing more drastic than housepoints."

Neville nodded. "You've been fighting this war since you were eleven," he said, "without parents to help you. The people around you only made it more difficult."

"Not all of them," Harry smiled, "You and Ron, Hermione and the twins…you supported me. I think I've got the best friends in the world. You were made to grow things, to nurture plants, and yet you fought and killed to help me. I'm sorry that you ever had to do that, but I'm pretty glad you were with me. And now, too."

He sighed and stared in the general direction of Severus's bedroom, though he knew there would be no chance of him waking yet.

Phoenix song thrilled through the house suddenly, and with a flash of flame, Fawkes burst in, carrying a note.

"Hey, Fawkes," Harry petted the bird, "is everything alright at Hogwarts?"

The bird trilled and held out the note.

Harry read it and went red in anger.

"The idiot! Fudge already dropped by, and knows we helped Severus escape. Oh, I hope he will fall soon…"

He read on.

"Ah. Of course."

Neville looked at him. "What did the headmaster write?"

"He says that he doesn't expect much good to come from a trial at this point. Says we need to get public opinion on our side now. He suggests I give someone – Luna – a complete interview in which I explain exactly what happened. I'm afraid Severus will hate it that people know what happened to him, but it is the best way."

"Well," Neville contemplated, "Fudge did make some rather stupid mistakes. If you reminded the public of that in the interview, they would be less likely to support him. Remind them that he ignored the signs of Voldemort's immanent return, and that he kept denying it until a year after the fact. It doesn't help that he refused to be at the battle either…not to mention Sirius, Harry. People know now that he spent 12 years in Azkaban for a crime he never committed."

"That was more Crouch's fault than anyone else's," Harry said absentmindedly.

"Fudge was Minister, it happened on his watch," Neville reminded him.

"Dumbledore wasn't blameless either, but you better not mention that," Fred said as he entered, having heard a large part of the conversation.

Harry shrugged. "He wasn't blameless in a lot of things, but we've sorted that out. But yeah…maybe I should set up the interview with Luna."

Fred nodded. "At least the things Luna makes up aren't half as crazy as some of Skeeter's stories," he grinned.

The other two boys snorted and agreed.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry woke in the middle of the night. Sitting up straight, he wondered briefly what had disturbed his sleep. Until a whimper from the other bed caught his attention.

Severus was tossing and turning, clearly in the throws of a nightmare. Tears ran down his face, and he tried to curl up like Harry had seen Sevvy do on numerous occasions.

Slipping out of bed, Harry sat on the edge of the bed.

"Severus, wake up. It's just a nightmare. Come on, wake up."

He hesitated. Yes, the man reminded him of Sevvy, but he also reminded him of the Potions Master who loathed him.

"Severus isn't the only one who is confused about how he feels," he thought with an inward sigh.

_But you are his brother_, a voice in the back of his mind said, _and you promised him you'd be exactly that, no matter what._

Severus sobbed, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"It's ok, I'm here," he whispered, taking one of the trembling hands and stroking the dark hair, "you're safe now. No one can hurt you."

The whimpering slowly stopped, the breathing lengthened out a bit, and the dark eyes opened slightly.

"You were gone," the older man said quietly, not really awake, "you and Daddy were gone. You left me."

Harry gently ran his hand over the shaking back. "They took you away from us," he said, "but we came to get you. I'm here, I'm really here."

The hand in his own tightened a bit, the Potions Master was clinging to him as if to reassure himself that it was true, that Harry hadn't lied. Then the eyes closed and Severus slipped into an easy sleep.

"Which is great, Sev, but you are still squashing my hand," Harry muttered, trying to carefully retrieve his hand.

No such luck. The fingers weren't lax enough in sleep to release him.

"He must be so frightened," the teen mused, "it would have been hard enough to cope with the strange memories in the safety of Hogwarts, let alone after being thrown into Azkaban and then on the run again."

He pulled the blankets up a bit higher and tucked the edges around the sleeping man.

"I wish Salvatore was here," he sighed for the tenth time that day alone.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Dumbledore will give us trouble," Fudge complained, "and that Potter brat too. They are too influential.Who knew they would care for that Death Eater? I thought the public would love it if I locked him away, but if both Dumbledore and Potter will testify for him at his trial…"

The toadlike woman next to him smiled. "This isn't a setback, Cornelius, it's an advantage! Can you imagine the Daily Prophet headlines? 'Boy Who Lived Going Dark: Harry Potter protects known Death Eaters!' Postpone the trial as long as possible. The longer Potter and the Death Eater are in hiding, the better. People forget quickly. Out of sight, out of mind. Along with some articles in the most important papers – Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly…"

"Witch Weekly?" Fudge frowned.

Umbridge nodded. "It's garbage, true, but you have no idea how many women believe every word in that magazine."

"Like that time you bathed in an extract of Bubotuber puss and Bundimun secretion because that magazine claimed it would remove all wrinkles? Well, it did do that, of course, only it took two weeks for the healers at St. Mungo's to regrow your skin."

Umbridge ignored him.

"I'll contact the Daily Prophet, Cornelius, you just delay that trial for as long as you can."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Hi, Harry," Luna Lovegood said as the young man suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Do sit down. I was just finishing up this piece about Lord Voldemort's familiar, Nagini. Did you know he got her from a Wizard in South America, who conducted experiments with mutated Flobberworms? What happened to her, anyway?"

"With Voldemort dead, she is a normal snake now. We had a chat and she agreed to be given to a Zoo, as she wouldn't be able to cope in the wild. Do keep that out of the paper, please, Luna. I don't want people tormenting her. Voldemort had her under the snake-equivalent of the Imperius curse. It wasn't really her fault."

"Would that be the same Zoo that you stole those snakes from last year?"

Harry's eyes opened wide in shock. "How do you know about that?"

Luna just smiled.

"Which reminds me," Harry mused when he had recovered, "I should find a way to pick up Circe from Hogwarts. Seeing her might help Severus."

"I'd be happy to pick her up for you," Luna offered, "I'll be interviewing the Headmaster soon anyway. Umbridge upset Daddy when she told him…"

"UMBRIDGE!" Harry yelled.

"Yes," Luna replied calmly, "She is getting all papers to print ridiculous stories about you. She contacted Daddy too, but he says the Quibbler will never join in a hate campaign against you."

Harry paced the room.

"Fudge! That means the Prophet will soon start writing nonsense about me. What can I do about that, Luna?" he asked helplessly.

"Well, you could buy the paper," Luna said, "but that doesn't guarantee anything. It needs a new editor, one that isn't a lackey of the Ministry."

Harry stroked his chin in thought.

"Anyway, Harry, I thought you came here to be interviewed. So, here goes. How are you doing, what with being a fugitive from the law and all?"

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Later that day, Umbridge entered the office of the Chief Editor of the Daily Prophet, only to see her packing.

"Eve! Where are you going?"

"Home."

"But why?"

The other woman turned around. "I'm retiring. I got an offer to sell the paper. It was such a good deal that I'd have been crazy not to take it."

"But…but…who owns the paper now?" Umbridge stuttered.

"I don't know," Eve replied, "the goblins handled the transaction. I don't think whoever it is will take over my job personally, though."

"Then who…"

"Hello ladies," a cheerful voice came, "May I introduce myself? The name is Lovegood."

Dolores Umbridge stormed out of the building in the foulest mood she'd ever been in.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

**Harry Potter Tells All!**

**True allegiances revealed in the aftermath of battle**.

_Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, Vanquisher of Voldemort, Savior of the Wizarding World, has not been seen since the interview he gave shortly after his defeat of Voldemort._

_In that interview he had some shocking revelations to share; especially his claiming Severus Snape as his brother._

_Now, Harry Potter, Hero, Savior, and fugitive, explains why._

"_Severus saved my life many, many times, but I never gave him credit for it," the young Vanquisher confesses, his face slightly tainted pink as he remembers his ingratitude._

"_Severus spied for the Order of the Phoenix. He never really was a Death Eater, and he was horrified when he realized what taking the Dark Mark meant. Without his efforts, for which he risked his life, the Order of the Phoenix would have been powerless, and thousands of people would have died."_

_For long years, the animosity between Severus Snape and Harry Potter was almost as famous as his scar. When did that change, and how?_

"_Well, once I knew what he did for our side, I started to respect him. Not like him, mind you, but I did respect him. He was horrible to me in school, and truth be told, I did nothing to change his image of me as a copy of James Potter either. But then, last summer, Voldemort found out he was a spy. Instead of killing him, he changed him into a six year old boy and sent him back to Hogwarts, hoping we would treat him horribly – remember that Voldemort, who was once Tom Riddle, didn't have much reason to think we would not; his own experiences taught him that much – and that when Voldemort changed him back, he would see how wrong he was to aid our side and become a Death Eater once more. Severus didn't want that. He ran away. That's how I met him. He was just a little boy in a lot of danger that I started to care for; he became my brother. Now that he is an adult again, he will remain my brother. Nothing can change that."_

_So, for a whole year, Severus Snape lived as a boy at Hogwarts, taking classes, enjoying the company of his father and brother, and even playing Quidditch. Severus was the reason Harry decided to set up Hogwarts's first Little League._

_(Editors note: I promised Harry I wouldn't tell anyone that the Little League bested Gryffindor in a Quidditch match. I won't, but I still think it is quite admirable.)_

_Was there no spell to change him back? Hogwarts holds some of the finest and most skilled witches and wizards after all._

"_Yes, we could have changed him back. Sevvy chose not to. He had a very unhappy childhood – a very unhappy life, in fact – and wanted to remain a child. He would have grown up again at a normal rate if the spell hadn't dissipated upon Voldermort's death. Right now, he is trying to integrate the memories. You can imagine it's quite confusing to suddenly have two sets of childhood memories and an adult set missing for one year. It wouldn't have been so bad, if we had been at Hogwarts where our father and trusted friend Brother Salvatore (editor: The Fat Friar, Hufflepuff Ghost) could help him. But instead…well."_

_Yes, a week after his already legendary defeat of Voldemort, the two heroes of this war, accompanied by five of their most trusted friends, are hiding. _

"_Cornelius Fudge threw Severus in Azkaban. He plans to execute him. He does not like me or Albus Dumbledore, and he knows that taking Severus means hitting us where it hurts most. I never wanted to be in this war, I didn't want any of this attention, and I never wanted to kill. Fudge things I'm in it all for the honor and glory. It's not like that; war is not like that. He doesn't understand that, he wasn't there…"_

_Yes, that is very true. The information regarding the place of the final battle was known beforehand. The Order of the Phoenix was ready, but the Minister once again refused to act, just as he ignored Voldemort's return for over a year. Harry Potter saved our lives while the Minister sat idle. Harry Potter has been ridiculed as a liar before when he spoke simple truth. Shouldn't we assume he speaks the truth this time as well?_

_On page 5: The Lost Year: Ministry in Denial._

_On page 9: What DID Umbridge do to our children?_

_Pages 11-15: Complete Bio's of Harry Potter, Severus Snape and friends, the heroes of this war._

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"I don't care how!" The Minister threw the newspaper on the desk.

"People have been sending me Howlers, I get angry firecalls, I'm sick of it."

He nodded with satisfaction at the eight blackclad, skilled men before him.

"You are the best of the best. Find them, wherever they are, and shut them up. For good."


	7. Chapter 7

In the privacy of his bedroom Dumbledore held the tiny mirror in front of his face. Harry had given him the repaired two way mirror he had shared with Sirius so they could keep in touch.

"Harry Potter," Dumbledore whispered, even now cautious he could be overheard.

After some time, during which there came an increasing amount of noise from the mirror, Harry's face appeared.

"Father! Is everything alright?"

"Yes, dear boy, don't worry. I was concerned for you. Is Severus alright?"

Harry looked over his shoulder.

"Well…I wouldn't call it 'alright', exactly. He's having trouble integrating the memories. Most of the time he is quiet and confused, but occasionally he acts like Sevvy, and at times he acts like…"

"POTTER!" Dumbledore heard from the background. Harry sighed.

"And sometimes he acts like Professor Snape," he finished a bit morosely.

"It would be so much better if he were at Hogwarts," Harry continued, "for one, he could talk to Salvatore there. He is very afraid, Albus. He thinks we don't want him anymore now that he is grown up, and Azkaban only affirmed this belief. You not being here hurts him, I know it does. You are his Daddy, and his father, no matter what set of memories is dominant at the time. Your approval means everything to him, much more even than my assurences."

The twinkle disappeared from Dumbledore's eyes.

"I know, Harry, and I would like nothing more than to be with him, but it's impossible right now. We're well on our way to remove Fudge from his office, but we're not there yet. The public is in uproar, however, since your interview. You are immensely popular, my boy, and my interview to Luna helped too. If WE love Severus, people reason, he can't be that bad."

"I hope so."

"I also wanted to warn you, Harry. Fudge is on his way out, but cornered snakes strike the most fiercely – no offense to your reptile companion, of course. Be careful. Before you left, I put a charm on you; if you are in danger, I will know instantly and we will come to your aid."

"Thank you, but this house is well-hidden; I doubt they will find us that easily. It took the whole Order weeks to track it down, and that was with your and Remus's memories of the place."

"I'm sure the Seven Paladins can handle Fudge," Dumbledore's eyes suddenly twinkled.

Harry spluttered. "Seven Paladins?"

"Didn't you read the Quibbler?" Dumbledore said innocently, "that's what they call your little group now. Hogwarts's Seven Paladins. Luna's doing, I am sure."

He laughed at Harry's indignant muttering as the connection was broken.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Did you find them?"

"No. They are well hidden."

"They are not in Dumbledore's houses. Snape has no house. They must be at one of the Potter residences."

"Probably, but all of them are heavily warded, and almost impossible to locate."

"Almost. The Minister gave us access to everything. The Order of the Phoenix found the boys when they were hiding; they must have found something. Possibly in the archives. Find out what it is."

"Right away."

The tall man leaned on the table, a candle eerily illuminating his scarred face and sending bizarre shadows over the golden hair.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Ah, Amelia, so good to see you. How are you?"

The witch sat down, her lips thin in disapproval.

"I am not here to socialize, Cornelius. I am here to inform you that a Vote of No Confidence has been filed with the Wizengamot."

The little man turned around, his eyebrows raised. "Against whom?" he enquired innocently.

"Against you, Cornelius. The Vote of No Confidence is on behalf of the people; the Wizengamot will also install an investigation concerning other strange occurances the past years."

Fudge narrowed his eyes. "Such as?"

"The Dementors in Little Whinging. Your denial of Voldemorts return. Your constant hindrance of the people who were actually doing something to fight him. Your absence at the final battle, not only personally, but also you sent no support at all. Your refusal to grant Severus Snape a trial and sending him to straight to Azkaban. Among other things."

"These sound like accusations, not investigations, Bones," Fudge said angrily.

"They could become charges should the investigation find you guilty of them," the woman replied, unphazed.

"My advice, Cornelius, would be that you resign now, voluntarily, while you still hold some influence and standing."

"Never!" the angry Minister retorted, "I won't! In time the public will come to see that I am right, that I've always been right! The old fool and that hideous boy orchestrated it all."

Bones paled. "Do you mean to say, Cornelius, that Albus Dumbledore had a hand in the return of that Dark Wizard? That Harry Potter voluntarily was tortured and nearly killed many times? That they are defending a Death Eater just to spite you?"

"Exactly!" Fudge happily exclaimed, "I'm so glad finally someone understands! You do see why I had to make those decisions now, don't you?"

"I can see that you are dangerously unbalanced, Cornelius. I should go get…"

An arm grabbed her from behind and a hand was pressed over her mouth.

A foul-smelling cloth was then held over her face and she slowly blacked out.

Fudge stared at his employee.

"That was close," the tall man said, lowering the body unto the floor.

"Is she…is she dead?"

"Merely unconscious. I will arrange for a quiet transport to Azkaban for her; you will write a press release that states she was in league with Dumbledore and Potter."

"Have you killed them yet?" Fudge asked, eager as a child on Christmas Eve.

"No," the man glanced at him with a mixture of exhasperation and disgust as he picked up the drugged Bones, "but we will. Tonight. Thanks to your impeccable archives, we know where he is."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Harry entered with a tray of food.

"Go away," he heard.

"I'll put the food on the table," he said calmly, "you need to eat."

"Go away."

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "Why do you insist on being alone, Severus?"

"You're not real," he heard a whisper, "Harry left me in Azkaban. You can't be Harry. Potter hates me, why would Potter take care of me?"

"Oh, Severus," Harry sighed, squatting down on the floor in front of him, "Do you remember when you were six?"

A short nod.

"Do you remember when we lived in this place before?"

"Home. We cleaned and flew. Harry took me to the zoo. And then the bad people came."

"Not bad people, Sev. Misguided people. But yes, we lived here and we cleaned and flew and had fun, didn't we?"

Suddenly a brief smile lit up the pale face.

"Yes, we had fun."

Then a glare settled in. "Potter."

"Try to stay with me, Sev. In those weeks, I started to love you. Like you were my little brother. Nothing will ever change that. I wish we'd been in time to stop them from taking you to Azkaban. I'm very sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most…"

Harry trailed off, guilt overwhelming him.

He started out of his thoughts when Severus started talking.

"It's just…strange. You told me that I was six when my mind tells me I should have been an adult. There are…there are like, three different persons in me. The boy who lived with his parents and was abused. Sevvy. And…and whoever I was before I changed, because the Severus Snape you knew…isn't really me either. I just don't know who I am anymore…"

He shivered and pulled his robes closer around him.

"You…you don't have to help me if you don't want to," he mumbled, "I can…can just go…somewhere."

Harry shook his head.

"You're my brother. I'm not going to abandon you."

There was no more reaction. The Potions Master just stared out of the window and didn't react.

Feeling frustrated, Harry managed to squeeze his brothers shoulder without getting bitten, and left.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Hermione woke up at 3 am. There was something strange going on, she could feel it. As she slipped into her robe and shoes, grabbing her wand, ready to investigate, she heard the soft voices of the boys.

She entered the livingroom cautiously, only to be dragged down behind the couch by Fred.

"Shhh," he whispered.

"What's wrong?" Hermione mouthed.

"People sneaking around the house. Nev got a glimpse of one; they're Assassins."

Hermione felt herself go rigid. "Ass…"

At any other time, the twins would have teased her mercilessly about the exact point in the word where her voice chose to stop cooperating. Not now, though.

Ron slipped closer.

"I counted eight. We're surrounded. Our advantage is they haven't seen us yet and don't expect us to be awake. We can surprise them. Fred, George…do you have your gags with you?"

The twins nodded.

"Simple things," they said, "a blowgun with tiny dirts, thinner than a needle, that penetrate almost everything. Coated in a Sleep potion."

"I'm the best with that one," Fred said, "I'll climb onto the roof and try to take them out."

"Good. We have to take them out one by one; we can't win a direct confrontation with eight assassins! Hermione, go get Harry," Ron said, "We will need him."

Harry sat up straight instantly when Hermione entered.

"Shhh!" the witch put a finger to his lips, "trouble. Assassins. Eight."

Harry felt a sudden surge of magic. Hermione looked at him, with a question in her eyes.

"Albus," Harry whispered, "the guarding spell he put on me has gone off. The Order will be here soon."

"Not soon enough," Hermione bit her lip, "they are approaching. Professional killers, Harry."

"Come," Harry said, casting a worried glance at Severus, who seemed to be fast asleep.

"Let him sleep. He's safest staying here anyway."

Fred had climbed onto the roof. George was getting their other gags ready; the portable golems.

"Letting a few lose once they know we are awake will confuse them," he said, giving them one each.

"Ok, folks…pair up."

Ron paired with Hermione, Harry with Neville. George joined Fred on the roof, ready to shoot from there.

They hid outside the house, stealthily.

One of the black figures had to cross the lawn to get to the house. Harry heard a soft sound from the roof. It seemed like nothing had happened, but when he was near the house, the man collapsed.

"One down," Neville mouthed. Harry nodded and pointed.

To their left, another assassin approached. Harry looked up, and realized Fred and George could not see this one; from their point of view, he blended in with the dark background.

Neville grasped his wand firmly – there hadn't been time to recover his own from the bottom of the sea, but Luna had delived one along with Circe. Amazingly, it was the perfect match.

The assassin had now seen them; but they were too close to do anything. He could not yell for help without the other inhabitants of the house waking up – and the teens could not yell without alerting the other seven.

So the silent battle began.

Harry quickly realized that the man was fast and strong. His spells came in rapid succession, but he favored his blade; Harry smirked. Concentrating, the sword of Gryffindor appeared in his hand. He silently thanked the headmaster for teaching him that wandless and silent trick.

CLANG!

The two blades collided. The assassin seemed surprised to find the teen knew swordfighting – and with a good sword too.

Harry knew the man was fast on his feet; but he also knew he was faster if he concentrated.

They moved gracefully around each other, attacking, parrying, neither gaining the upper hand for the moment.

Another assassin, alerted by the sound of steel against steel, ran up, but Neville had seen him.

He summoned up all his magic, and felt it flow practically unhindered through his body to his wand.

It wasn't until the red light had Stunned the assassin that he realized he had never said the words.

Harry meanwhile, drew first blood. And there was never to be any last blood.

The assassin, blood trickling down his shoulder, stepped back into the lighter background.

Moments later he fell to the tiny needle from Fred.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the house, Hermione was kissing Ron passionately just in front of the rosebushes.

Two assassins made their way up the the couple.

They stopped, a bit confused. Their training had them ready to deal with a lot of situations…but a couple making out instead of fighting them?

Casting a glance at each other, they never noticed the wands.

Two silent spells hit them straight in the chest, and they plunged headfirst into the roses.

The remaining three had figured out there was a problem, and had quickly banded together, prepared for the worst.

The four on the ground caught up with each other as well, while the twins on the roof secured the assassins that were down.

Suddenly noise filled the air. At the fence, several POPS indicated that people had Apparated or Portkeyed in.

Dumbledore, the eldest Weasley brothers, Remus Lupin and Filius Flitwick rushed towards the group.

Hexes started flying. In the midst of fighting, Harry saw Severus entering the yard.

"Sev! Go back!" he yelled.

Instead, the wizard looked at the people in the yard, and blindly ran off into the nearby forest, Harry chasing after him.


	8. Chapter 8

Harry ran and ran, caring for nothing more than to find his brother and bring him back safe and sound.

Thanking his lucky stars that Severus was too upset to hide his trail, he followed the path of broken branches and uprooted bushes for hours, yelling his throat horse whenever he caught a glimpse of the man ahead of him.

The mad chase through the forest came to an abrupt end, when in a clearing he found Severus. And not only Severus. An immense, two-headed dog stood in front of him, snarling and baring its teeth.

Severus was pressed against a tree, obviously terrified, and without a wand.

"NO!" Harry yelled, as he saw the teeth snap only inches from Severus's face.

Ignoring the stabbing pain in his side, tripping over treetrunks and scrambling back up as fast as he could, he finally reached the Potions Master and threw himself in front of him.

"BAD DOGGY!" he yelled.

The dog stepped back for a moment, clearly shocked. Then it shook its heads and seemed to realize he was big, and strong, and not a bad doggy!

Harry shook as he pointed his wand at the beast.

"STUPIFY! PETRIFICUS TOTALIS! Mary had a little lamb…"

Unfortunately, this dog did not share Fluffy's weakness to music. Or maybe Harry was a bad singer. The dog, annoyed by the spells thrown at it, became REALLY agitated at the mention of lamb, and snapped.

Harry's wand was pulled from his fingers, and flung somewhere behind the dog. Quickly picking up a fallen tree branch, Harry pushed Severus further behind him and took an offensive stand, as if armed with Gryffindor's sword instead of a moldy piece of wood.

"You can't have him! He's my brother and I won't let you hurt him!" he screamed into the dog's face, and prepared to swing at it.

Suddenly a whistle sounded. The dog looked up, the two sets of ears perking up.

"Orthrus! Come here, boy! Come on! There's my good fellow!"

The dog happily ran towards an old man in a purple robe who had just entered the clearing.

"My apologies, young Harry," the man smiled, "Orthrus can be very protective. Almost as protective as you are, I daresay."

Harry didn't say a word, but kept his makeshift club ready to attack.

"Accio Harry's wand," the old man calmly said, and the wand flew in his hand. He offered it to Harry.

"Take it. You will feel better when you are armed."

Harry slowly reached out and took the wand.

"Who are you?" he asked, "We are still on my property. What are you doing here?"

"I've lived here a very long time already. When your family bought the house, it was agreed upon that I could live here as long as I liked. But you are hurt, young Potter, and your companion – your brother, I think you called him? – doesn't appear to be in very good shape either."

Harry only now became aware of the many bleeding scratches and bruises caused by the branches. He looked around and saw Severus curled up against the tree trunk.

"How am I to know if I can trust you?" he asked, shivering.

The man held up his hand. "I swear upon my magic that I mean neither you or your brother any harm."

He nodded, and slowly lowered his wand. The old man came closer. The dog, Harry noticed, was lying a bit further away, yelping a little every now and then, but obediently waiting for its master to finish his business.

"Oh, dear boy," the man said, inspecting Severus, "you ARE confused, aren't you?"

Harry sat down, fatigued after the long run, the many stinging scratches and the fright with the Cerbe---wait.

"Is that a Cerberus? He only has two heads."

"No," the old man replied, trying to coax a response out of Severus, "as you know, Cerberus, though now the name of a species, was the threeheaded dog that guarded Hades. Orthrus was his brother. My Orthrus is a descendant of that dog."

He stood up. "I think you should come to my home, Harry. I can help your brother, but I need time and some of my gear. And your wounds should be treated as well."

"Really?" Harry asked, wide-eyed, "You can help Sev? Heal him?"

The old man smiled. "I can help him on his way, at the very least," he said, "come."

Together, they hoisted the skittish wizard to his feet, and made him walk between them. Orthrus tagged along behind them, snapping at the occasional bat.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't even asked for your name," Harry said, his hand holding Severus's elbow.

"My name is Rhys ap Merdhyn," the old man said, "Most people call me Merlin, though that is technically incorrect."

"Merlin?" Harry stopped, and stared at the old man, who chuckled.

"I never tire of that reaction," he said, "No, not THE Merlin. He was my ancestor. My official first name is Rhys, and I'm his great-great-grandson. I'm not the powerful wizard my greatgrandfather was, even though I'm not too bad," his face wrinkled as he smirked, "I even went to Hogwarts as a child."

"Let me guess, you were a roommate of Albus Dumbledore?" Harry sighed.

"Not at all," Rhys laughed, "Albus is much younger than I am. I was one of his teachers when he attended Hogwarts. But what made you think of him?"

"He is our father," Harry said, and for the first time, Severus looked at him.

"He adopted Severus first, then me this past year," Harry monitored the still silent wizard closely.

"Ah, I see. Well, here we are," Rhys said, motioning to a cottage.

"Home."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Where are they? What happened? HARRY! SEVERUS!" Dumbledore yelled, frantic with worry.

"Albus, calm down, we have to decide on what to do now," Filius Flitwick, wiping the sweat off his brow, tried to put his terrified friend at ease.

A shudden light alerted them to the arrival of another person. Arthur Weasley.

"Are the boys alright?" he asked, out of breath, "Albus, the Minister is about to fall. Aurors discovered Amelia Jones in Azkaban, apparently drugged and kidnapped. What…?" he looked around.

"Do you have Veritaserum, Arthur?" Dumbledore asked gravely, staring into the forest.

"Yes, I do, I was on my way to question…why?"

"Give it to one of them."

Grabbing the one that the boys indicated had to be the leader, Arthur administered a dose of Veritaserum.

"Who are you, what was your target, and who sent you?" he demanded agressively.

"They call me Sly," the man responded, "Harry Potter and if possible, Severus Snape. We were sent by Minister Fudge."

Dumbledore lowered his head. "Take them, Arthur. Your sons can go safely home now. And I must search for mine, or this will be a very hollow victory indeed."

He strode into the forest with determination.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Rhys had settled Severus on a comfortable sofa, and spelled the doors shut.

"Don't want him running off again," he explained to Harry, "the wards will let us through, though, and him if one of us accompanies him."

Then he gently started treating the bruises and scratches on the passive wizard, and kept an eye on Harry, who was cleaning and healing his own wounds, ready to provide help if needed.

He washed the wounds and rubbed a healing salve in them.

"Won't spelling them away be quicker?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Rhys said, "but he is scared. Pointing a wand at him would not be for the best, and physically soothing him like this now, will help me later, when I start working with you both."

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked.

Rhys searched his face. "I won't hurt him, Harry. You are both familiar with Legilimency. What I'm going to do is related to that. I will take you into Severus's mind, and together we will help him integrate the memories that are confusing him."

He turned to the man, who regarded him with solemn dark eyes.

"I'll help you, young one," he said softly, "Will you let me?"

Slowly, Severus nodded.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Alright, Harry," Rhys said later, when they were bandaged up and Harry had told Rhys most of Severus's story, "I'm going to link to you first. Once that is done, I'm taking both of us in Severus's mind. We will most likely encounter both the previous adult Severus and the child."

Harry groaned.

"I know," Rhys sympathised softly, "but you must not lose your temper, Harry. You must treat the older one with as much care as you do the child. Part of his fear is that you and your father will no longer love him now that he is grown up again. If you react badly to his adult part, that will only confirm his ideas. He will probably also be quite nasty, to try and drive you away. Don't let him."

Harry shook his head. "He is my brother. I knew it was possible he would return to his old self should he grow up again and I promised a long time ago I would always be there for him."

"Good." Rhys concentrated. Harry felt a strange sensation, and became aware of the old man.

"We are now entering Severus's mind," he heard. Suddenly they were in the Headmaster's office.

"Why are we here?" Harry wondered.

"This is the only place where both the adult and the child ever felt safe and at home," Rhys replied, "They should be here somewhere…"

At that moment, a small boy came rushing from the corridor leading to the bedrooms. He flung himself at Harry.

"Harry, help me, he scares me!"

Harry automatically wrapped his arms around the child, as he had done countless times, and looked up to see a menacing Potions Master enter.

"Potter," he snarled, "what are you doing here? Get out!"

Rhys calmly sat down on the couch.

"Why don't you sit down, Severus, and we can discuss this."

Severus threw him a death glare. "Leave, old man, if you want to keep your bones intact."

Rhys sighed. "Sit DOWN, Severus."

"You insufferable old fool!" the dark man yelled, "I try and try to get rid of the brat, and here you are, coming to bring him back, to kill me…" he trailed off.

"Kill you?" Harry said, shocked, "No! Rhys, no!"

He stood up, taking Sevvy's hand and standing next to the Potions Master.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt him! You promised! I won't let you hurt either of them!" he snarled so viciously even Snape looked impressed.

Rhys shook his head. "I'm not going to kill anyone. Sit down, the lot of you."

This time they obeyed.

"Listen, Severus," the old man started, planting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward, "I know you are frightened. Why don't you tell me what scares you?"

"Besides having the Bloody-Boy-Who-Lived and some idiot geriatric in my head?"

"Severus," was all Rhys said.

"Fine. FINE! I'm scared because Potter took my father from me, he and that little twerp over there, and now they are cooing over the boy, and wishing I never existed."

"I don't want to be you," Sevvy suddenly screamed, "you scare me and you say nasty things, and you like POTIONS!"

"And thanks to YOU I now have memories of being BATHED by POTTER, for Merlin's sake!" his adult counterpart retorted.

"Enough," Rhys said, "Sevvy, come here."

The boy approached him, and Rhys pulled him closer.

"Sevvy, listen to me. Severus is not a nice man. But he is a good man. Your father loves him very, very much. Do you remember Mother and Father, child?"

Sevvy shivered.

"You got away from them," Rhys said softly, "you went to live with Harry and Daddy. But Severus had to live with them until he was all grown up."

Sevvy's eyes widened, and he regarded the older man with something…not quite like sympathy. More like understanding.

Severus bowed his head.

"Do you love Daddy?" Sevvy inquired.

"Y-yes," Severus admitted.

"But you hate Harry," the small inquisitor continued.

"No. I have to pretend I do. I have to pretend so much I start to believe it myself," Severus admitted.

He looked at Harry.

"You defended me, not just now, but before…I don't understand. You took him in," he pointed to the child, "when you could have taken revenge. I don't know what you expect me to be. What Albus expects me to be. I'm not even sure if he still wants to be my father, now that he has had better sons for so long."

Harry's eyes burned with a green fire. "You…you idiot!" he exploded, "he loves you! He loves you so much that he stayed behind, however much he wanted to be with you, to fight for you! He loves you no matter what! He doesn't care one bit if you're six or thirty-six! And come to think of it…" he suddenly realized, "neither do I."

Severus gulped. Sevvy walked over to him and put a hand on his knee. "You're not bad," he said, "Daddy loves us both. Maybe we can become a new Sevvy, with a bit of both of us?"

Severus hesitated. He looked at Harry. And at Rhys. And finally his eyes rested on the boy.

"I don't know," he softly said, stroking the dark hair, "you were happy, weren't you?"

The child nodded enthusiastically.

"I've never really been happy before," Severus mused.

"Does father…does father really want me?" he asked one last time.

Harry sat down next to him. "Yes, Severus. He loves you. I'm sure he is searching the forest right now, desperate to find us. He loves you."

"So I have a Gryffindor brother," Severus sneered, but much of the vindictive tone was gone.

"Well, yes," Harry admitted, "though I was very nearly a Slytherin. Alas, I had met Draco Malfoy."

"I can see how that would put one off Slytherin," Snape nodded, a slight smirk on his lips.

Harry looked at Rhys, and suddenly knew what to do. He hugged Sevvy close, rocking him. Then, to the surprise of the dark man, he reached out and grabbed Severus in a hug before placing his young counterpart on his lap. He smiled, stood up, and went to sit next to Rhys.

As Severus enveloped Sevvy in a hug, they both started to shimmer and slowly merged into one. Finally, Harry and Rhys stretched the exhausted wizard out on the couch, and slowly retreated from his mind.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

It was warm. And something smelled nice. He heard voices. Harry's voice. Rhys's voice.

Oh.

Slowly Severus began to expand his senses. Oddly relieved, he found that all his memories seemed to be where they belonged. Granted, some of his memories were definitely unique; one does not change into a child and back every day. It felt like a very difficult puzzle that he had been unable to solve, had clicked largely into place. It wasn't quite finished yet, but he was no longer stuck.

Sitting up, he smiled deeply when he saw Harry interrogating Rhys on some obscure piece of magic.

"Harry," he called.

"SEV! You're awake!" Harry rushed over.

"Yes, I am awake, as you can see," he said, "How long…"

"Not very long," Harry said, "though I'm not sure how long we've been in your mind. Are you alright, Sev?"

"Yes. I am almost alright," he accepted his brother's help walking to the table.

Looking through the window, he winced. "I had rather hoped I had imagined the dog."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Albus Dumbledore had walked through the forest for hours, tracing, like Harry had done, the trail of his sons. Tired and very worried, he finally stumbled upon a cottage.

He instantly whirled around when a huge dog came running up to him. The two heads sniffed him, and whined.

The door opened.

"Goodnight, I am sorry for disturbing you so late," Dumbledore began in a rush, "but I am looking for my sons. Have you seen two dark haired young men? Please, I am getting desperate…"

"ALBUS!" the man forcefully said.

His eyes flew open. He hadn't heard that voice in…in…ages? "P-professor R-rhys?"

"They are here, Albus," the old man said.

Harry flew out of the cottage and into Dumbledore's arms.

"Father!"

Dumbledore hugged him, and over the dark head he searched the face of his former professor in worry.

"Severus is inside," Harry said, pulling back.

Pushing Dumbledore through the door, he and Rhys busied themselves with feeding Orthrus.

Dumbledore stepped inside, and came face to face with his eldest son.

"Severus?" he asked, hesitatingly.

The younger man bit his lip. "Are you…Do you still…"

Before he had decided on the phrasing of the question that burned within him, Dumbledore couldn't restrain himself any longer and pulled him in his arms.

"Oh, child, Severus, I was so worried about you. I love you, son."

Severus felt another piece of the puzzle click together and finish. Emotions welled up inside him, and there was only one reply he could think of.

"Father."

**A/N: Yeah I know. Bit sappy. But I like pointless sentimentalism. **


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione and the boys had helped with the clean-up, had given statements, had patiently endured the long wait while everything was being processed, and finally they had sat together, wondering when the three would come back from the woods.

Finally, when the sun was already well up, four figures emerged from the forest. Two dark heads and two white. The witch was the first to spot them, and jumped to her feet.

"HARRY! SEVERUS!" she rushed towards them and caught them both in a hug, nearly throttling them.

"Do you have any idea how SCARED we were?" she then proceeded to scold them, "just running off like that? You could have been hurt, you could have been…been…"

Her rant was cut short by the burst of laughter from the Weasley twins, who couldn't restrain themselves any longer at the sight of the Vanquisher of Voldemort and their fearsome Potions Master whimpering and cowering before the young woman.

"Hermione, dear, please stop…"

"They have been through enough…"

"They're back in one piece…"

"And you're just like Mum when you do that."

Hermione had the grace to look ashamed.

Severus, feeling a bit overwhelmed, stepped back, right into his father who was standing behind him.

Dumbledore affectionately wrapped his arms around his son.

"It's alright, Severus. Do you remember staying with them last summer?"

The younger man nodded slowly. "But I was six then," he whispered back.

"They won't care." Squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, Dumbledore gently pushed him towards Harry and his friends.

"It's been a real mess, the whole Ministry is in chaos," Ron said, "Dad and some other honest Ministry people have locked Fudge up in his office until Madam Bones has recovered. They're waiting for us, too. Hi, Severus," he continued, "are you alright?"

Severus startled. "I…you…yes, I am alright, thank you…" he finally managed.

"And who is…"

'The gentleman with you?" the twins asked, curious.

Dumbledore beamed. "This is professor Rhys. He was my teacher when I went to Hogwarts."

The wide eyes and open mouths told Rhys that the teens considered that very impressive indeed.

He chuckled. "Well, now that I've gotten you back here, I'll be going home, Albus. You better sort out the mess at the Ministry."

To the hidden amusement of the others, the old man pinched Dumbledore's cheek, his eyes twinkling like mad. "Be a good boy, child," he chided teasingly.

Dumbledore blushed furiously, coughed slightly and dragged his near-hysterical sons off with him.

"Will do, professor, thanks again!" he called over his shoulder.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Amelia Bones sat, still shakily, in her office when a knock on the door heralded the arrival of a rather large crowd of people.

The three in the front, however, were all she cared to see.

"Albus," she said, trying to smile.

The old man sat on the desk next to her, and patted her hand.

"It's alright now, Amelia. Have they harmed you?"

She shook her head. "But what…where…"

"They are either dead, or in the cells, dear. They attacked Harry's hiding place tonight, and were defeated."

The witch looked up.

"Losses?"

"None," the Twins smirked.

"Cornelius is in custody," Arthur said softly, "You have been elected Minister, Amelia."

Madam Bones stood up.

"There is much to do. First, the assassins will go on trial. After that, Cornelius. And lastly," she looked at Dumbledore, "Severus Snape."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"It's not fair!" Harry said angrily.

"Yes it is, Harry," Dumbledore said softly, "child, there still has to be a trial. There are so many people vouching for him."

"But…but…I promised I wouldn't abandon him again…" Harry shivered.

They were seated in a waiting room, across the hall from the new Minister's office. Severus had been taken for processing by Arthur. The Weasley Pater Familias entered the waiting room only half an hour later, smiling.

"It's arranged. Severus can go home with you until his trial. He is not to leave Hogwarts. He is not allowed to leave your rooms, Albus, without Harry or yourself accompanying him, but there are no other restrictions."

"Thank you, Arthur," Dumbledore smiled gratefully, "who will be the judge for his trial?"

Arthur shrugged. "Half the Wizengamot is corrupt, Albus, and has to be removed. It has been disbanded until Amelia can rebuild it again with trustworthy individuals. Meanwhile, each trial will be presided over by one judge and four advisors. Amelia is not considered impartial when it comes to the assassins; she is also a witness and victim in that case. I'm afraid it's not clear yet."

Harry snorted. "As if the Wizarding World ever needed impartial judges before."

The adults looked a bit embarrassed that they could not refute the young man's accusations.

"Yes, well," Arthur cleared his throat, "Severus will be brought up here within ten minutes, and you can take him home."

"Mr Weasley?" Harry asked, "Will I be facing charges for breaking him out?"

Shaking his head, Arthur patted Harry's shoulder. "No, don't worry about that. He shouldn't have been there in the first place."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Cornelius Fudge stumbled in the dark. He scowled; he prided himself in his ability to land perfectly after Portkey travel.

"So this is the Potter brat's hide-out," he mused, looking at the dark contours of the house.

A while before, he had managed to talk one of the guards – one of the few people loyal to him in the Ministry – into letting him out. Fortunately he had Sly make him one of the Portkeys they had used as well. As soon as he was out of the Ministry building, he had activated it.

A soft rustling of leaves made him stop. A fence seperated the property from the surrounding land. He easily climbed it.

Pointing his wand at the house, he decided the brat was not worthy of everything that was bestowed upon him. After all, what had the boy done? It hadn't been any skill to kill the Dark Lord, just sheer dumb luck with those wands. Everyone fawned over the boy as if he had done anything extraordinary. No thoughts whatsoever on the one who had worked hard to keep their society peaceful, without those nasty war things.

"INFLAMMARE!"

The house slowly began to burn. Flames shot up. It found a way in, and began to climb until the house was a raging inferno.

The rustling behind him became stronger, and finally Fudge was woken from his reverie to see what was behind him.

Then he paled. Snakes were behind him.

A lot of snakes.

"You have hurt my friends," the snake in the front, a tiny one, hissed. Too bad Fudge didn't understand Parseltongue.

"Now you burn our house. The young Speaker is a good and kind man, as is his brother. You must pay."

"Ugh, Snakes," Fudge said finally, "No wonder they are here. Slytherin scum lived here after all."

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say.

The body of Cornelius Fudge would be found during the day, next to the smouldering building, a Priori Incantatem showing he had indeed set fire to it.

It was hard to decide what had killed him first: the snakevenom in his body, the many deep wounds made by sharp, piercing fangs, or the bruising on his neck suggesting something had been wrapped around it – very tightly.

At any rate, it was one less trial to worry about.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Severus shook as he entered the courtroom, accompanied by his father and brother.

Dumbledore ran a soothing hand over his back.

"We'll be right here, child," he said softly.

An official entered.

"All rise," he ordered, "to the honorable judge, Amelia Bones, and the college of advisors: Arthur Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall."

Harry and Dumbledore smiled at each other.

"Will the defendant please take his seat?" the official was taking himself way too seriously. Fred and George made a mental note to do something about that after the trial.

Severus kept his eyes to the ground as he slowly walked up to the wooden chair. He sat down, expecting the chains to tie him, but nothing happened.

The official looked somewhat disturbed by this.

"Let us begin," the Minister said, "The accusations against this man are well known. Is there anyone who will speak for him?"

She didn't look the least bit surprised when most of the people present in the courtroom, including her own advisors, stood up.

"We will hear from Mr. Snape himself first, then," the witch said, "bring the Veritaserum."

Severus stiffened.

"No!" he protested, "I will answer all your questions, there's no need for it."

"It is standard procedure now," Bones said calmly, "so we can make sure no one is ever sent to Azkaban innocently again. Your willingness to answer will be noted, but I'm afraid you have no choice than to take the Veritaserum."

The official brought the small vial and Severus, with a defeated look that Harry and Dumbledore didn't understand, took the three drops.

"Your name?" Bones started the questioning.

"Severus Snape," was the reply.

"You have been named as a Death Eater. Many people are willing to swear that you are a spy, and haven't been a Death Eater in over two decades. Is this correct?"

Severus looked at her, slightly confused.

"Excuse me," the Minister said, "it's been a while since I did this. Were you a spy for Albus Dumbledore?"

They saw the man fight the Veritaserum, biting his lip till blood ran down his chin, but the serum was too strong.

"Yes," he gritted out.

Bones frowned. "Why are you so reluctant to admit to something that may keep you out of Azkaban?" she asked.

"I don't want to be given leniency. I have remembered now what I did. I did horrible things. I deserve to be punished."

The low buzz in the courtroom told Harry he was not the only one surprised with that answer. In fact, only Albus Dumbledore seemed to have expected it.

Amelia continued.

"Did you enjoy what you had to do?"

"No."

"Do you regret it?"

"Very much so."

"If you could do it all over again, would you still join Voldemort?"

Silence. Then Severus turned to Bones.

"I…I can't answer your question."

"Why not?"

Sighing deeply, clearly still fighting, Severus tried to hold back, but the serum forced out the answer.

"I did not join Voldemort voluntarily. If I could do my life over again, I am not sure I could avoid it. It was not my choice."

The five at the judge's table stared at the squirming man in shock.

"Then what did happen?"

"I briefly considered joining him after a few fellow students almost killed me, and were let off. I let go of the idea quickly. It was easy to see his evil. I didn't want to join. My uncle, Udiah Prince, who moved in with us when I was two, was a Death Eater. When I showed reluctance to join, he beat me severely. I was only half conscious when I got the Mark. They did not let me out of their sight for months, until they thought I had been hardened enough by having to participate in their activities not to flee."

"Yet you did," Arthur remarked, unable to restrain himself.

"Yes. I ran to Albus Dumbledore as soon as I could and offered to spy. I was already tainted; I might as well use it to make up for at least some of my evil."

The Veritaserum wore off. Severus buried his face in his hands and sobbed softly.

Amelia Bones turned to her advisors, who all nodded, clearly leaving the judgment up to her.

"Look at me," she said, adressing Severus.

Black eyes hesitatingly raised to meet hers.

"I know you want me to send you to Azkaban now," she started, "but I can't. Not after all your efforts, all your pain, and all your trouble. You deserve to be rewarded, not punished. Every single person in this room is willing to testify on your behalf. In fact, no one is accusing you of anything but yourself. And that is an issue I can not solve, but I have faith in your strength of character and strength of mind that you can overcome that."

Severus stared at her. Was he that strong? Was it possible that he had done well? Suddenly a memory drifted into his mind. He was six, and snuggled against a recovering Harry after Death Eaters had attacked them. "You are a good person, Sevvy," Harry had said. He had no adult memories at that time, but Harry had known what kind of person he had grown in to. Yet Harry had called him a good person.

Slowly, painstakingly, more pieces of the puzzle shifted into place.

"…so the terms of last time stand," he focused on Amelia bones again, "you are free to go. Albus Dumbledore will remain your guardian. That concludes this meeting."

As the room slowly emptied, Severus felt hands on his shoulders, and a handkerchief gently wiped the blood from his face. He looked up into the worried blue eyes of his father.

"I don't want to teach Potions anymore," he whispered, managing a small smile.

Dumbledore's eyes softened, but he knew he was in for a lecture once they were back home. Even so, the old man returned his smile.

A chuckle on his other side told him Harry was nearby, too.

"Does that mean I will have to do my own homework?" he teased.

Severus struggled up, and with some effort, produced a very worthy sneer.

"Mr. Potter…are you suggesting I help you CHEAT?"

Harry lightly punched his arm while Dumbledore took his elbow.

"Come on, let's go home."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Harry stood on the balcony, his arms folded over his chest. Severus slowly walked up to him.

"Hey," Harry said softly, "I didn't expect you yet."

Severus shrugged. "Father went easy on me," he smirked, "once I promised him I'd continue my chats with Salvatore or Rhys. I didn't tell him I was planning on that anyway. It wasn't bad. He was kind." He lowered his eyes.

"I never told anyone about…about being forced to join Voldemort. I always thought no one would believe me anyway. Thank you, Harry."

Harry turned around, bewildered. "For what?" he asked.

Severus stared in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"For caring for me. For making me…making me a better person."

"You already were a good person, Severus," Harry pointed out.

A snort next to him made him kick a shin.

"OUCH, you brat! Alright, for making me a nicer person, then."

Severus studied Harry's face.

"You've been crying," he concluded, "What's wrong, Harry?"

"The…they found…Fudge…and…and…the bungalow…burned down, Sev." Harry wiped at his eyes.

"Burned down?" Severus felt a lump in his own throat as well.

"Fudge escaped," Harry said softly, "and managed to set fire to the Bungalow. He's dead."

Severus paled. "Circe?" he whispered.

Harry pointed to a rather smug looking snake in a corner.

"Molly found her when they went to see if they could retrieve anything for us."

He shivered. "There are still Death Eaters on the loose, and so many races we have to make amends to, the werewolves and the giants and…and…"

Severus took Harry's shoulders.

"Harry, calm down. I know. You're overwhelmed now. But you did your part, you did more than your part, and it's time the rest of the Wizarding World started pulling their weight, little brother. We can finally concentrate on our own lives now."

"Yes," Harry sniffed, leaning into his brother a bit.

After a while he pulled back and grinned, having to tilt his head to look Severus in the eye.

"You called me 'little brother'," he said indignantly, "You're all grown up!"

Severus laughed, and slung his arm over Harry's shoulder.

"Yes," he agreed, "all grown up now."


	10. Chapter 10

Harry's Portkey transported him and Severus to the site where once the Bungalow stood. Dumbledore had gone ahead, not wanting his sons to be alone, but he was with Rhys at the edge of the forest, giving the younger men time to examine the remains of the house by themselves.

"They told me you adopted them," Rhys said, gathering the mushrooms he needed for potions ingredients.

His former student nodded. "I became Severus's guardian when he was 19. I should have adopted Harry the moment his parents were killed."

"But you didn't."

Dumbledore blushed and hung his head. "No, sir," he softly admitted, "I left him with his abusive relatives, despite repeated warnings."

Rhys stood up and wiped the dirt off his hands. "That doesn't sound like the Albus I knew," his voice was soft and calming, "what happened, child?"

The blush deepened. "I'm a hundred and fifty-seven now. No one has called me 'child' for over a century."

Rhys chuckled. "Albus, I'll be two hundred and twenty-nine soon. I still remember you at your Sorting, a nervous little boy who was terrified of not being good enough to come to Hogwarts. Even when we all saw the great potential you had."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "You did? But you…"

"I always was hard on you?" Rhys smiled, "I'd have thought that after all this time you'd have understood. That it's the most promising students we are the hardest on, because we want them to reach their full potential. That's why I pushed you further and harder than any of my other students."

Albus winced. "I was terrified of you the first years of school. I didn't even appreciate what you were doing until my OWL year."

Rhys pulled him to a fallen log, and they sat down, far enough not to be overheard, but still able to see Harry and Severus.

Albus squirmed uncomfortably. "You'll be very ashamed of me once you know," he sighed.

A hand on his shoulder quietly encouraged him to go on. "It started…started when Tom resurfaced after his quest for power, and gained followers…"

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Severus stared at the debris. Hardly anything was recognizable. He couldn't believe that this was the house they had lived in only a few short weeks ago.

Harry shivered. "I hate Fudge," he said vehemently, "even if he's dead…I still hate him."

Severus patted his shoulder. "Tell me about last summer," he smiled at Harry, "I remember cleaning. Rugs…"

Harry grinned. "You liked cleaning the rugs. You levitated two at the time and rammed them into each other."

He pointed to what once had been a room.

"We sat there, at night, when you came down after a nightmare, drinking warm milk with honey."

Severus nodded.

With an evil gleam, Harry added: "You were so cute, half asleep and in your jammies."

The glare he received was a bit too much Potions Master for comfort, but the pout afterwards was definitely Sevvy.

"I am not, nor have I ever been, CUTE!"

"Yes you were."

"Was not!"

"Yes you were."

"Was not…and YOU were constantly FUSSING over me!" Severus accused.

It was Harry's turn to gasp in outrage.

"WAS NOT!"

Severus smirked.

Harry stared at him. "You GIT! You…you…"

"I think, Harry," his brother said softly, "that the memories of this place count for more than the house. And we get to keep the memory."

Harry turned and stared. "I still want to rebuild it," he said sadly, "it belonged to my parents, and you became my brother here. True, the stone and all doesn't matter that much, but this place does. Will you rebuild it with me?"

Smiling brightly at him, Severus nodded.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"…and that's when I realized it was my fault Severus ran away, as Harry did," Dumbledore finished his confession to his old mentor.

Rhys nodded. "And then?"

Albus looked up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Pointing at the two near the house, Rhys clarified, "They love you, Albus. When I met them, they called you their father. They let you adopt them. So somewhere between them running away, and now, something must have happened."

"I've tried hard, very hard, to make everything up to them. But like Harry once said, I can't undo what I did wrong."

Silence reigned for a little while. Then Rhys sighed.

"Albus, do you remember, that ten years or so before you defeated Grindelwald, I resigned from Hogwarts?"

"Of course. We all missed you."

"It was the biggest mistake of my life," Rhys said, not bitter, not depressed, just stating a fact. "I saw the rise of Grindelwald. I knew you'd be the one to defeat him. I'd lived through a number of conflicts already, and I was tired. So I fled, and left you to deal with him. With him, and Tom Riddle. I should never have done that. But I did, and I thought I could never undo it. I stayed in hiding. Until a few weeks ago, when I found two desperate boys practically on my doorstep, and realized I had hidden for too long. Had I been braver, I would have been with you to help you through your wars. There is nothing I can offer you, except the promise I will be here to help you from now on."

Albus's eyes widened. "You will? Seriously? I understand you wanted rest after the wars you lived through, it means so much to me that you are willing to give up your quiet life just for me."

Rhys smiled brightly. "Thank you, Albus. And that is your own answer as well. Harry and Severus forgave you for what you did wrong. You don't have to make it up. They only ask that you are there for them from now on."

Dumbledore returned the smile gratefully, and turned his head, his eyes softening as his gaze fell on his sons.

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Harry and Severus had insisted on building the new Bungalow themselves. Though their friends came by often to help, as well as the occasional Hogwarts professor, the project was theirs, and theirs alone.

Severus even insisted on creating Circe a special place in the garden, with cool hiding places, soft grass and nice sun spots. With Harry as a go-between, he asked the little snake many times what exactly she wanted until it was perfected. He even got Rhys to cast a 'notice-me-not' charm on her, with the specific intent of keeping her out of the sight of predator birds.

Late one afternoon, they were sitting in the grass, drinking a cool butterbeer and looking at the house. They had worked hard all that day, and now the walls were put up, the roof was perfected, and each room had been enchanted to appear bigger on the inside than on the outside.

"I read that once in a book," Harry had explained, "and I liked the idea. If it works on tents, why not on houses?"

"Tomorrow we can start on the interior," Harry said, kicking off his shoes to feel the soft grass on his feet.

"And then we'll be full circle," Severus commented softly, "back where it began. Fixing up the Bungalow together."

"Well, technically, to go all the way back to where it began, you'd have to be in York, stealing fruit," Harry pointed out.

Severus blushed. "This time, YOU can steal the fruit," he muttered.

Harry chuckled.

"Hey, Sev, look at this! I finally figured it out."

Severus cast a glance at his brother, and began to roar with laughter.

Harry's eyes were twinkling.

"I studied Rhys and father, and I practiced in front of the mirror. Give it a try too."

Severus concentrated, and after a while, a small twinkle appeared in the onyx eyes.

"There!" Harry grinned widely, "it's a family trait now."

ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

They had not allowed Dumbledore and Rhys to see the finished house, but on the day it was completely finished, they invited them over for a tour.

Proudly showing off the kitchen, living room, dining room, den, library, and six bedrooms, they all crashed in the den.

Dumbledore noticed a familiar picture. Harry had asked, a while ago, for a copy of the amusement park picture and a few of Sevvy's drawings. They now decorated the walls of the den, along with some of Severus's newer paintings. His love for it, though long repressed in his spying years, never died out.

"Are you going to name the house?" Rhys asked, "or will it just stay The Bungalow?"

Severus shook his head.

"Did you read Tolkien?" he asked Rhys.

The old man chuckled. "Certainly, my boy."

"Well, when we thought of a name for this house, one that kinda showed what it means to us, we decided on the title of his book."

Harry nodded. "We made a sign, even," he said.

Severus Summoned a piece of wood over.

"Here it is. We're naming it 'There, and back again.'"

THE END.

**A/N: for now, at least. Yes, this was the end. After four months of writing. Thanks, all, for bearing with me throughout the entire trilogy.**


End file.
